title Girl Anachronism
author pinkeop
summary Behold the world's worst accident, I am the Girl Anachronism. ( AU )
authors note Thank you for your reviews! You guys are so sweet. 8D Alright, I got a little confused, but I'm better now. I know how this chapter is gonna go, so go me for figuring that one out! I'm trying to set the plot solid, even if I still don't know if I want to make this SweeneyOC or not, because he's like, old and Ana is like, seventeen and even if Mr. Todd is delicious in every rendition of him, that's still creepy. [
Besides, Mrs. Lovett wants to rumple his bedding.
Ok, ok, ok, I KNOW the events don't go like this in the movie, but you know what? I think that the movie was screwed up. Because I was sitting with my buddies Matt and Yak watchin' it and all of a sudden we turn to each other, "Has anyone seen it be daylight since he made the damn chair?!"
So silly! So I'm streching things out. Besides, it's AU, right?
Right.
Without further ado, chapter four!
Love!
Pink Elephants on Parade.
p.s; no Dresden Doll lyrics this time. Five points to who can guess the song and artist. 8D
p.s.s; Andaere- I AM JEALOUS! Only because of the booklet. -sticks out tongue- So nyaah! And also, I try to reread through theses and fix as much of the mistakes as I can. I'm just too excited to post these up to take the time to get a beta. Maybe I'll start typing them in Microsoft Word so I can catch most of the mistakes. I'm sure the red lines would be blinding!
p.s.s.s; this chapter is REALLY long. I'm sorry, I just had to fit everything in there!
--
chapter four In Too Deep
Everybodys got their problems
Everybody says the same things to you
Its just a matter how you solve them
What else are we supposed to do
It all started the following Monday morning.
"Ana, would yeh help me for a tick, love?" Nellie called from the shop. Ana sat in the parlor, looking through a thick volume of poetry, the english too old for her to dicipher properly without rereading a line over and over again. The girl looked upwards, tucking a wild strand of her hair out of her face and saw the baker poking her head from around the corner of the parlor. Smiling, Ana stood and bound towards her, having learned exactly how to side step her swishing dress to avoid getting tangled up in the skirt and falling over. She MUST find where Nellie hid her jeans. It would make cleaning ten times quicker.
In the middle of the shop was an old chair with a red seat and back. Nellie looked at her with a tired smile, and her brow was already beaded with sweat. Ana's returning smile was sympathetic.
"Would yeh help me get this up ta Mr. Todd, my dear?" she questioned, patting the chair. "'E needs 'imself a good chair up there for his business."
Ana chuckled and pulled the skirt of her dress up a bit, tucking it so that it no longer brushed the floor. Her pink converse showed and Nellie shook her head at the shoes, before grabbing the back of the chair. Ana heaved the other end up and the two shuffled awkwardly through the court door, and Ana began up the stairs backwards, keeping her eyes on her feet the entire time, begging herself not to trip and fall.
Half way up the stairs the door above them opened and Ana looked back so quickly her neck hissed in pain. Mr. Todd stood at the top of the stairs, looking thoroughly amused at their little heaving of the chair. He began to descend the stairs, and while Nellie simply groaned and moved towards the side to let him by, Ana had a right mind to tell him off and was about to do so when he reached her stair, and reached around her to grab the arms of the chair. He was so close to her that Ana could smell the lather he used for the shaving cream like a colonge and a hint of vanilla. She turned her head slightly and let her eyes close for half a second to inhale deeply.
Mr. Todd held the chair by the arms and lifted it over Ana's head and held it against his chest as he turned on the stair, slightly awkwardly, and stomped up the steps with it. Ana and Nellie exchanged simliar looks of relief and confusion. The two women bound up the steps and into the barber shop just in time to see the man turn away from the chair, which he placed in the middle of the bare room, towards the window.
Nellie sighed and collapsed into the chair. "Not much of a chair, I'm 'fraid," she said to Mr. Todd, who didn't even give her the curtosy of looking her way. "Was me poor Alberts chair. Sit in it all day long, 'e did. 'Alf 'is leg give out with gout..."
Ana seated herself on a stool in the corner of the room, her hands in her lap. The three of them, partners in crime they soon would become, stood in absolute silence. Mr. Todd gazed longingly out the window. Nellie gazed longingly at Mr. Todd. Ana gazed longingly at the floorboard where the razors and journal had been hiding when this room had been hers. It had been over a week, now. She had been obviously noticed to be gone by now, as her mother wouldn't be able to believe that Ana could be silent for twenty minutes before being checked upon. What were they thinking now, she wondered? What thoughts were going through her mother's head? Her fathers? Aunt Helen's? Were they scared that their baby girl, their only child, was missing, gone forever? It certainly felt as if she would be gone forever, at least. How she got into this world, she decided, landed on the shoulders of that journal. Find the journal, perhaps she would get a way back. But would it be under that floor board? Or was it Mr. Todd's himself?
Ana looked up at the man in question who stared out over Fleet street in silence. Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd... Ana thought with a wry smile. There he was, the man who shaved the faces of gentlemen, who never thereafter were heard of again. It had said it there on the first page of that old, cracked, yellow-paged journal. It would do no good, she decided, to share her discovery with either of these two, for certainly they already knew in the back of their minds the fate of those who would accend the stairs. Nellie had said it herself. Achin' to slit a throat... Ana surveyed the room, and her eyes zeroed in on the vanity, piled with things that certainly belonged to Mr. Todd. The velvet-red box was open and the silver gleamed in the pale sunlight from the large bay window. But nothing she could see looked anything to be a little journal. Nothing to take her back home. And then there it was- that little voice in the back of her head, telling her, do you really want to go back there, with your mother, when you have kind Nellie here, now? Ana's brows scrunched up. Her mother needed her, she tried to reason with herself, she made her life more adventerous.
"Mr. Todd!"
All three of them, partners in crime they soon would become, turned to the open barber shop door just as a boy unfamiliar to Ana, perhaps a few years her senior, came stumbling in. He had a warm face and bright eyes, his shaggy brown hair fallen over half his face. He looked as if he'd just taken a lovely beating by the way blood was dried on his lip. Ana jumped off her stool as Mrs. Lovett stood from the chair.
"Antony..." Mr. Todd greeted in low tones, moving towards him as the young man began speaking rapid fire.
"Mr. Todd, I need your help! There's this girl! Such a sad girl, lonely, but beautiful, too!" Antony stammered. Mr. Todd placed one hand on the boy's shoulder and menuvered him towards the barber chair.
"Slow down, son," he said quietly. It surprised Ana, as she watched the exchange, the small bit of friendliness that the barber showed towards Antony. He pressed the boy's shoulder, and he sat down on the edge of Albert's old chair.
"There's this girl," Antony began again. "Her gaurdian keeps her locked up, but this morning, she dropped this!" He produced a key from his coat pocket and his smile was bright and hopefully. "Surely this must be a sign that Johanna wants me to help her! That's her name, Johanna... and Turpin is her gaurdian... he's a judge of some sort..."
Ana's eyes flickered to Nellie, who looked to Mr. Todd, who exchanged glances with both women. Johanna. The name meant something to each of them, but perhaps the most to Mr. Todd. Surely this Judge Turpin was the same man as the Judge that held the barber's daughter captive. It had to be, to coincidences were too similiar. Assuming, Ana reached out a hand to touch the back of the chair.
"How romantic," she told the boy. Antony turned to look at her, a smile on his face. Mr. Todd looked upon Ana with dark eyes, but she simply rose her brows at him and lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
"Yes!" he agreed, before looking back to Mr. Todd. "If I could keep her here, for an hour or so, I would be forever in your dept... please."
Nellie spoke next, take a few steps towards the chair herself. "Bring 'er 'ere, love," she said quietly.
"Thank you, m'am!" Antony crowed, turning in the chair to flash Nellie the same bright smile. He looked back to Mr. Todd. "Sir? Please... Mr. Todd..."
The barber nodded his head. Just a small bob of his chin, but Antony jumped up and wrapped his hand around Mr. Todd's and shook it virgirously. He turned and pulled Ana into a tight hug, and then bound around to do the same to Nellie. She hook her head, obviously taken aback by the sudden affection. "Thank you! Thank you!" He scrambled towards the door. "Thank you, Mr. Todd, I'm forever in your debt!" He gave a half hearted, giddy, excited bow before he took off, his foot steps echoing on the wooden stairs.
Ana stared after him, still slightly off kiltered from the quick hug the boy had bestowed upon her. "Look there," Nellie was saying. "You'll 'ave your daughter back in no time. An' if you need to get rid of the boy, well..." Ana looked over to the baker just in time to see her make a motion across her throat. "There's a throat to slit, my dear!"
Mr. Todd looked towards Ana with narrowed eyes, then back to Mrs. Lovett. It took him a few seconds, but he raised his chin in silent acknowledgement. The look he gave her, and only her, sent chills down her spin. It was dark and dangerous and somehow ever so knowing. You're part of this, now, that look said to her. Blood spilled is on your hands, now, that look hissed maliciously. No where to run, now, that look taunted. Welcome, partner, that look said lastly.
Ana turned away from him. Her heart pounded in her throat and her fingers gripped the skirt of her dress.
"Leave me," Mr. Todd said roughly. Nellie grabbed her by the hand and pulled her from the room, leaving Mr. Todd in peace as was requested by him. Once out onto the landing, the air felt warmer, muggier, than it had inside the tiny little flat above the bakery. Exchanging silent glances, the two women descended the stairs and went back into the shop. Neither of them said anything as they went about cleaning and cooking for the customers that wouldn't come.
That night, Ana lay awake listening to Mr. Todd pace back and forth. She wondered what his thoughts were- surely of turmoil. He was soon to be reunited with his daughter, the father she would never remember having. It was almost tragic. Yet he would be reunited with her. And that's all that should have mattered. That should have settled his thoughts. Yet he was still pacing as the first rays of light gray began to enter through the window, when Ana finally fell asleep against Nellie's shoulder, the warm quilt wrapped around the both of them.
When Ana awoke, it was mid-morning, and the only reason she'd been roused was the hard, cold floor hitting her behind harshly when she rolled out of bed. She had been thrashing, for a nightmare gripped her too tightly to let her wake on her own. She'd been up in Mr. Todd shop, in her dream, watching him pace away his wrongs. He looked so calm, but with each turn his face grew darker, sharper, harsher. His bruises drew deeper around his eyes until finally they were hollowed out. The pacing grew to thrashing, and as scared of him as she was, Ana couldn't move. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her mother calling her desperately, searching for her, but every time she'd turn her head, she was gone, like smoke.
The girl groaned as she heaved herself to sit on the bed. The night gown was wrapped around her legs, too long for her. Her eyes landed on a fresh pile of laundry that Nellie would probably ask her to fold later. Out of the bottom, low and behold, Ana saw a pair of trousers not fit for the era she was currently locked in. And not far away, a familiar black beater. "I'm not crazy!" she cried out delightedly, driving for the lundry and pulling her jeans and beater out from the pile. Nellie, who often asked her to tell her stories, had unknowingly caused Ana to feel as if she had been going crazy with the fever she had, had. But lo and behold!
Ana dressed quickly and revelled in the odd feeling it was to actually be wearing her jeans again. After wearing those dresses, they felt constricting, and her beater too loose. But all in all she felt more like the old Ana and ran out of the bedroom and through the parlor, into the shop. "Nellie!" She called.
"Oh, Ana, there you is! Would yeh mind bringin' up a spot of breakfest ta Mr. T? 'E could use it---" Nellie looked up from placing some oatmeal in a bowl onto the tray and her sentance was cut off with a sigh as she placed her hand on her hip, appraising Ana, who just grinned at her new baker friend brightly and happily.
"Now why yeh gotta go put those rags back on?" Nellie asked, sniffing slightly. "After I gave yeh that nice pretty dress? Dressed like a boy!" She huffed and turned away, scraping some eggs onto the tray. "An' yeh trousers 'as holes all in 'em!"
Ana frowned slightly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to risk hurting Nellie's feelings by not wearing the dresses she laid out for her, but it certainly did feel good to breath again without that corset. "Aw, Nell..." Ana said lightly, stepping up to the counter. "This is how I always dressed where I came from. All those dresses weren't normal attire for a girl my age!"
Nellie snorted and heaved the tray off the counter and thrust it towards Ana. "Not now, Ana," she said sternly. "Go take this up to Mr. T, then maybe you can tell me your stories. After you put on something more fitting!"
Ana groaned and took the tray. "Yes, mum." She mocked. Something about the kind baker made it hard to rebel. Almost as if she didn't want to. Odd enough, she wanted to make Nellie happy. Like an actual friend. She'd been more of mother to her than her own had, and so when the strap of her beater slung down over her shoulder loosely, it became very annoying, and the thought of putting on a dress again seemed almost appealing. Nellie's lips twitched upward.
"I let yeh keep those hideous shoes, didn't I?"
Ana couldn't help it- she smiled. Pursing her lips, she turned on her heel and exited the court door, turning and going up the stairs one at a time, trying to balance the full breakfest on the tray. Oatmeal, eggs, and cornbread. Her stomach growled. Once at the top, Ana balanced the tray against one hip and didn't bother knocking as she invaded the barber's privacy.
"Mr. Todd," Ana said, trying to sound bright and airy. "I brought you up some breakfest!"
The man turned to look at her from his spot at the window, and his brows pulled together in confusion as his eyes appraised her. Finally, he pulled his lip back and he raised on single brow as Ana sat the tray down on the steamer trunk beside the door.
"What are you wearing?" he asked coldly. Ana looked down at herself and sighed, rolling her eyes into her head.
"I was cleanin'," she lied. "These made it easier to move around in."
Mr. Todd nodded, but didn't seem interested in the slightest, as he turned away from her.
"I brought you breakfest," Ana repeated, gesturing towards the tray. "Maybe I'll ask Nellie if we can bring up one of the tables from the parlor.. you ain't got a place to eat..."
"Leave it," Mr. Todd said absently.
"Don't you want any?" Ana asked curiously.
The man's hand came slamming down on the sill of the slanted window. He gazed out of it so intensely. Finally, he spoke, but it was ever so clear that he was speaking to himself. "Why doesn't the Beadle come? Before the week is out... that's what 'e said.."
Ana's brows pulled together as she came to stand by the chair. "Who says the weeks out? S'only Tuesday..."
"Plenty of time," Mr. Todd ground out.
"Just wait," Ana soothed as best she could from where she stood, and with how easily intimidating this man was. Her fingers twisted nervously around the arm of the chair. He turned to look at her darkly, staring her down. Like a snake and his prey. "Think it through," Ana suggested. "Watch it close, let it brew... Wait."
"And the judge," he whispered, raising a brow, challengingly. "When do you expect I get to him?"
Her eyes flashed as she leaned over the chair. "Don't you know? Silly man, half the fun is to plan the plan! All good things come to those who can wait."
Mr. Todd's lip twitched. Not exactly a smile, not completely a grimace. The look he gave her acknowledged now that she was in as far as he was, as far as Nellie was. Blood was on her hands. Welcome, partner. It as odd, getting approval of any sort from the dark barber. He turned away, towards the window, and the whole atmosphere changed.
"Out," he said quietly. Then, more urgently. "Out! Keep the boy downstairs. Out!"
Ana took a deep breath and turned, slamming the barber shop door closed behind her as she ran down the steps. Signor Pirelli was crossing the Fleet street towards the shop. Nellie was halfway out of the court door when the man stepped up to her shop. Ana could hear her high voice chatting it up. Her eyes, wild and wide, glanced at Ana. She smiled warmly.
"Mr. Todd will be happy to see you, sir!" She said, stepping off the stairs and out of the man's way. "You don't mind if Mrs. Lovett and I give your boy a nice, big meat pie, do you? What's your name, son?"
"Si, si, do whatever," the man said snotily as he began to ascend the stairs.
Ana wrapped one arm around the young boy, blond hair no longer under his cap, his face rough and hardened seeming to brighten at the thought of a pie. "Thank yeh, miss!" And then, more shyly. "I'm Toby."
Nellie frowned and leaned over to Ana. "What was that about?" she whispered.
"Patience isn't one of his virtues, is it?" Ana hissed back.
Nellie snorted and grabbed a pie off the counter, blowing off a plate and setting it down. Ana menuvered the boy into the booth and Nellie sat the plate down. "Eat up, Toby, dear," the baker said brightly. "Ana, why don't you go change out of them rags of yehs?"
"Why you dress'd like a boy?" Toby said around a mouthful of pie. Ana's lip curled back at the sight of the disgusting mixture dribble down his chin as Nellie laughed warmly at the question. Peevishly, Ana turned and stalked from the shop. In the bedroom as she was peeling on the many layers that she'd finally learned to do by herself, even the corset, there was a curious sound that echoed from the baber shop above. A curious thumping sound. She tied her last lace as she heard Nellie in the shop pounding random objects on the counter.
"Always work to be done!" she was saying as Ana came back in. "That's m'motto."
Nellie had a wild look in her eyes as they met Ana's, the thumping from above finally ceasing. Toby was peering at the pair of them, sucking whatever piece of pie had escaped his mouth off his fingers.
"Quite the appitite you 'ave there," Nellie said warmly, moving to sit on the booth beside Toby. "Reminds me of me poor Albert... liked to gorge 'imself to blotation, 'e did... didn't 'ave your nice head of hair, though..."
"To tell you the truff," Toby said, pulling at the blond locks to reveal it nothing but a wig- a ruse for Pirelli's own gain -and his short messy brown hair underneath which he scratched and mussed up. "It gets awful 'ot..."
Ana sank onto the stool, but only a moment of rest was rewarded, for Toby suddenly jumped up with a fright.
"Oh, no! 'E's got a meetin' wiff 'is tailor!" Toby gasped as he scrambled for the door. "If 'e's late, 'e'll blame me!" Nellie barely managed out the first syllable of 'no, wait!' before the boy was gone, dashing up the stairs to the barber shop.
"Go after 'im!" Nellie hissed to Ana, who obeyed as quickly as she could, pulling up her skirt as she dashed up the steps after the boy. At the top of the stairs, her heart thundered in her chest as she saw Mr. Todd and Toby, but no flamboyantly dressed man that was Pirelli. No, the door to the shop was held open by Mr. Todd, a cup of tea in his other hand. When his eyes caught her over Toby's head, a smile spread across his lips. But like all his other smiles, an alternative motive lay behind those lips.
"Tell you what," Mr. Todd purred. "Why don't you 'ave Ana 'ere give you another pie, and a nice tug 'o gin?"
Toby looked over his shoulder and a smile was lighting his young face. "Wow! Thank yeh, sir!" He said, looking back up at Mr. Todd.
"Go on down and tell Nellie to get it for you," Ana said warmly, patting Toby on the back as he dashed down the stairs eagerly. She put her hands on her hips and entered the shop, pushing past Mr. Todd who had placed his body in the door way to stop her from entering. She looked around with frown on her lips. "Where's Pirelli?"
Her eyes snapped to Mr. Todd as gave an annoyed sigh, closing the door behind her. He gestured with one big hand towards the trunk behind the door. Ana looked at her, frowning. Suddenly, her hands clapped up around her mouth. Four fingers twitched out of the edge of the trunk. Her stomach turned over itself. The man set his tea calmly on the work desk, his dark eyes not once changing from the calm, if not slightly peevish expression. In his right hand gleamed one of those beautiful silver razors. "Mr. Todd!" Ana hissed urgently. He held the open razor aloft, his other hand on top of the trunk.
"Look away," he commanded in a soft, almost caring, voice. Ana felt frozen in a mix of digust and slight fear. She remembered the way he had angerly grabbed her wrists just the other day and shoved her from the room. How easily could she have caught her death at his hands? And there in the trunk lay an innocent man! When she didn't move, Mr. Todd snarled, "Look away, Ana!"
The girl did as she was told, holding her hands over her lips, the bile rising in the back of her throat. She slammed her eyes shut as the soun dof the trunk opening behind her echoed in the bare room. A faint groan came from behind her before a dull, squeelching sound and gurgling splatters. Ana felt sick as she pictured the clean throat slit. She only turned to look when a thump of dead weight came from behind her. Mr. Todd had a splatter of blood across his white sleeve, his razor dripping with the sticky liquid. The looked at her with an odd glint in his eyes, almost giddy.
"Pardon me, Mr. Todd," she whispered, turning to escape the room. Everything seemed suffocating all of a sudden. Her retreat was halted abruptly by a strong hand tight around her wrist. He tugged her close, his face inches from hers. Ana turned her eyes away, staring at the floor.
"Try not to get sick on Mrs. Lovett's floor," he hissed, letting her wrist free. There was much more malice in his voice, behind those words. A warning that she couldn't quite understand but knew she should heed. Her stomach churned as she truned away and stumbled hopelessly from the room. She made it down the stairs, truning into the shop, witnessing Nellie pouring Toby his who-knew-how-manyth glass of gin. By the way the boy looked lackluster, it was one too many. Nellie lifted her gaze as Ana sat shakily on her stool, holding her stomach. A concerned look flit across the kind bakers face, but she said nothing. The sickening gurgle of a dying man played over and over in Ana's head, making it very hard to heed Mr. Todd's advice on not getting sick on Nellie's nice clean floor.
"I think I'll pop in on Mr. T for a tick," Nellie said brightly, standing and capping the bottle of gin.
"Leave the bottle," Toby requested. Boy drank like a sailor! Nellie snorted and turned, giving Ana a pointed look, before escaping upstairs towards the barber's flat. Ana started quietly at the floor, trying to calm her raging thoughts. The small part of her that remembered the Sunday school teachings screeched how wrong this was. The other part of her - the one that wanted to keep Nellie safe, and even to keep Mr. Todd out of trouble - reasoned that she had no where else to go. You have to work with what you're given. Might not be so bad, her mind reasoned. Might be easier just keeping your mouth shut. Who needed to know? Taking justice into his own hands, Nellie had sadi, that's all he was doing. The man who'd met his fate must've done something. Ana's stomach settled just slightly.
"Ana," Toby squeaked from the booth. He clutched the bottle in one hand. "Do you mind if I wait for Pirelli in that parlor, there?"
Unable to tell him no- for his employer wouldn't be coming back -Ana nodded numbly and watched him disappear around the corner.
Might even be fun, a sick voice in the corner of her mind hissed excitedly.
Ana jumped when she saw a man, an older man dressed richly for the era, moved by the court door and towards the stairs up to Mr. Todd's shop. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, but soon Nellie flew down the stairs and into the shop. "The Judge!" she hissed excitedly as she grabbed Ana, pulling her into a playful waltz. "The Judge! Turpin! Oh! The judge shall get a shave he'll never forget!" Nellie wrapped an arm around Ana's shoulders. "Where's the boy?"
"He's in the parlor," Ana said, afraid to speak too loudly. "The Judge?" she repated. Nellie nodded furiously.
"Out Mr. Todd shall get his vengence!" Nellie crooned, clapping her hands as she again pulled Ana into a clumsy dance. "And 'e'll get 'is daughter back to 'im! Then we can all leave this place! You an' me an' Johanna an' Mr. Todd!" An odd bubbly excitement gripped Ana- but also a fear. If they left, surely she would never get home! But Nellie's face looked so happy.
"Could we bring the boy?" Ana asked. "He's alone, now... the lease we could do."
"An' the boy!" Nellie crowed, dancing around the counter.
Ana smiled warmly at the baker. Such a kind woman- surely the death of a few corrupt souls was worth the happiness of many others? Suddenly, Nellie's eyes grew soft as she moved around the counter to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry you 'ad ta' be up there for... well..." She squeezed her shoulders. "Mr. T got no sense when it comes to ladies some times. 'E wanted me to tell yeh that the man tried to black mail 'im. 'Alf 'is earnings..." Nellie smiled that wry smile. "'E doesn't want teh frighten yeh to the law."
Of course he was worried of his own skin. "Never," she vowed. With that one word, she sold her soul to the devil.
"Oh, no," Nellie murmured quietly, her eyes at the window. Across the street was Antony, dodging a coach as he skit across the cobble stones. Nellie ran out to intercept him as he tried to get up to the shop.
"Mr. T is with a customer!" She said loudly. Antony gazed longingly up the stairs.
"It'll just be a moment, M'am!" Antony pleaded, dodging around her and trumping up the stairs. Ana grit her teeth and watched the boy push open the door, already speaking with his excitement. She could see him half way out of the shop door. Nellie and her hovered at the bottom of the steps. Then the explosion came.
"---Keep their company but you'll have none of mine!" The Judge shoved past the young man and Ana watched as he came stomping down the stairs. He was well dressed, a few specks of shaving cream stuck to his cheeks and chin. His eyes were dark as they felled upon Ana with a sick look in them. It made her shiver with disgust. They way he appraised her before he stalked away made her skin crawl.
"Out!" The barber's booming voice sounded, followed not long after by Antony wheeling down the steps and taking off down the street.
"Oh, no..." Nellie murmured. "Come on, then." She started up the stairs. Ana glanced after Antony's retreating form until he disappeared around the corner. Then, she started up the steps afer Nellie, closing the shop door behind her.
"What's all your yellin' for?" Nellie demanded of the barber. Mr. Todd stood behind his chair, his razor still held limp in his hand. His brows were pulled together, his eyes dark with a great bloodlust. His mouth fell slack as a whisper escaped his lips.
"I had him..."
"I know! That sailor went barging up before I could stop 'im an' we saw'd 'em both runnin' down the stairs." Nellie peeved.
"I had him!" Mr. Todd snapped. "His throat was bare beneath my hands..." He threw himself full tilt into a pace. Ana shrunk back against the door.
"Now, now, dear..." Nellie warned. "Calm down."
"NO!" He shouted, rounding on her. "I had him! His throat was there and he'll never come again!"
"Easy now," Nellie soothed. "Hush, love, hush..."
"Why did I wait?!" he shouted. He stopped pacing, his eyes landing on Ana. His head cocked curiously and he raised one ashen had. "You," he hissed, shrugging past Nellie to grab Ana by the upper arm, yanking her back from the door. "You told me to wait!" He accused. His grip tightened around her arm and Ana clenched her teeth tightly, her jaw beginning to ache. Shr asied one hand and dug her choppy, bitten down nails into the back of his hand, yanking it off her. Her flesh was left tender ontop of another bruise. They stared each other down before Mr. Todd turned away in fury, stalking to the window. Nellie moved towards Ana and wrapped a worried, motherly hand around her shoulders. Ana panted, her temper raging at the surface, staring quietly at Mr. Todd, trying to queel the anger that simmered to match Mr. Todd's own tantrum.
"They all deserve to die!" Mr. Todd snarled, wheeling around to gaze at the two women. "Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why!" He moved towards them, a smile sickeningly crazed on his lips. "Because in all of the whole human race, Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men, and only two! The one who stays put in his proper place and the one with his foot in the other one's face. Look at me, Mrs. Lovett, look at you!" Panting, he whirled around to stare angrily out the window.
"And what does that make you, then?" Ana spat, ignoring the way Nellie clutched her wrist. "That's a double standard, Mr. Todd."
It was if he knew he was intimidating. Ana swallowed her words as the barber turned on her again. He stalked over, his hand coming down on her shoulder with a firm grip, but much gentler than before. "We all deserve to die," Mr. Todd amended coldly. HIs head cocked and a taunting smile touched his lips. "Even you, little Ana, even I." He looked to Nellie and placed his other hand on her shoulder as well, looking at both women together. "Because the lives of the whicked should be made brief and for those of us left, death will be a relief." Mr. Todd dropped his hands and turned away. He was at his window, clenching the razor in his hands.
"And I'll never... see Johanna..." he grit his teeth and Nellie took a small step towards him. The pulsing bruise on her forearm gave Ana enough reason not to pity him. "And my Lucy... lies in ashes... and I'll never see my girl again..."
The man turned sharply to look at them, eyes wild and wide. Ana felt on edge as he stalked towards them- Nellie and scurried back to her side, putting herself between her and Mr. Todd, bless her heart.
"But the work waits!" he hissed. "I'm alive at last... and full of joy!"
Silence followed the barber's rant. Ana's eyes watched him warily, even if he stood still on the other side of Albert's chair. He was lost in his own world, panting in excitement. He wasn't looking at them anymore, but past them, past everything in his vision. His temper tantrum was fading, as was the ache in her arm, but her temper still simmered under the surface. Or maybe it was the rational fear of this man. His face seemed drained of all color. Finally, Mrs. Lovett leaned forward.
"That's all very well, but what're we going to do about 'im?" She nodded towards the drunk. "Ello? Mr. T? Are you listenin' to me?" The man looked hopelessly lost, brought back from his world. Sighing heavily, Nellie wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and tucked her arm around his back. "Great, useless thing... Ana, 'elp me with 'im down stairs."
Ana wrinkled her lip back in disgust.
"'Is behavior was deplorable, I know," Nellie said softly. "But the bloke is 'eavy!"
"Nothing but a tantrum," Ana amended, giving in as she went to the other side of Mr. Todd. The smell of vanilla was drowning under the scent of the shaving cream. With the both of them together, it wasn't hard to lug the barber from his shop and down into the shop, where Ana would get a real taste of what she was getting herself into.